An earthquake of magnitude 6.6 struck Nepal early Wednesday, killing at least six people, officials confirmed.According to the authorities, dozens of homes were destroyed in the western district of Doti.Five other people were seriously injured as eight houses collapsed, said Bhola Bhatta, deputy superintendent of police in Doti.Nepal is still rebuilding after two major earthquakes in 2015 killed almost 9,000 people, destroyed whole towns and centuries-old temples and caused $6 billion in losses to the economy.Nepali Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said on Twitter: &Expressing my heartfelt condolences to the families of those who died in the earthquake.I have instructed the relevant agencies to arrange immediate and proper treatment of the injured and the victims.Citing Narayan Silwal, a spokesman for the Nepali army, VOA reported that a ground rescue team has been rushed to the site and two helicopters were on standby in nearby Surkhet and Nepalgunj towns.Kalpana Shrestha, a senior bureaucrat of Doti district, said details were being collected from villages near the epicenter and that one child was among those rescued from under the debris.Nepal's seismological center set the earthquake at a magnitude of 6.6.
The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) had pegged the earthquake at a magnitude of 5.6.The quake was centered about 158 km (100 miles) northeast of Pilibhit, a populous city in the neighboring Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, and occurred at a depth of 10 km, EMSC added.Media reports after the quake showed tremors were also felt in New Delhi and surrounding areas, some 350km from Doti.The post Powerful 6.6 magnitude earthquake hits Nepal first appeared on Ariana News.